Shards of Honor
Shards of Honor is the first book chronologically in the Vorkosigan Saga, not counting Falling Free, which does not deal with Barrayaran affairs. Timeline 5 BMVK - 1 BMVK Plot Cordelia Naismith, Captain of the Betan Astronomical Survey from the extremely liberal and technologically advanced Beta Colony, is exploring along with botanist Ensign Dubauer, a newly-discovered planet when she sees her shuttle taking off unexpectedly to return to her survey ship, the Rene Magritte. While investigating, she discovers her base camp destroyed by plasma arc fire, and one of her men Lieutenant Rosemont dead from nerve disruptor head wounds. During her investigation, she and Dubauer are surprised by a "hatchet-faced" Barrayaran soldier with a nerve disruptor. Dubauer saves her by throwing his body in front of her, taking the brunt of the blast. She passes out after she hits her head on a rock. When she awakens, she finds herself alone with a Barrayaran officer, identifying himself as "Captain Aral Vorkosigan, commanding the war cruiser General Vorkraft. Cordelia immediately accuses him of being a "hired killer" over the death of Rosemont, then quickly realizes Vorkosigan had been the target of a mutiny. He informs her that Dubauer is effectively dead from his disruptor injuries, but Cordelia argues that even with severe mental trauma, she considers him alive and worth saving, even after Vorkosigan helplessly offers to cut his throat to end his pain. Cordelia learns one aspect of Barrayaran culture that outward displays of physical weakness is a social stigma. Cordelia bargains with Vorkosigan: her parole in exchange for helping Dubauer come along to the supply cache Vorkosigan intends to take her, giving him the ultimatum, "You can either leave us both or kill us both." Vorkosigan directly responds, "I do not kill prisoners", and agrees to bring the injured ensign. Cordelia is impressed by Vorkosigan's help, such as helping bury Rosemont in a deep grave after native scavengers attempt to steal the body and helps defend the campsite despite being poisoned by them, but her feelings become mixed when she identifies him as the "Butcher of Komarr". He responds by telling her that he did not orchestrate the Solstice Massacre - it had been the work of his second-in-command from behind his back. In retaliation, he killed the treacherous political officer with his bare hands, which created an uproar in the government, and his subsequent demotion to Captain. Cordelia instinctively believes him. Later, Cordelia and Aral share romantic histories, which are similarly ill-fated. Aral tells her about his first wife, who had been unfaithful to him due to his absence, his killing of two of her suitors in duels, and her suicide. Cordelia tells him of her first husband, who sunk all of her money into worthless schemes. *Edited up to this point Naismith realizes that the "supply cache" is a large depot, too large to be a simple cache, and begins to suspect that the Barrayarans have larger plans for the planet than Vorkosigan has let on. She and Vorkosigan encounter his second-in-command and friend, Korabik Gottyan; she remains hidden with a stunner as Vorkosigan confronts Gottyan, who knew Vorkosigan was still alive from Bothari's report. To his dismay, Gottyan reveals that while he was not part of the mutiny, he put Bothari in solitary confinement - Gottyan wanted to silently kill his superior officer to become Captain himself. Cordelia shoots Gottyan with the stunner, allowing Vorkosigan to secure the treacherous second-in-command. Vorkosigan then finds Ensign Koudelka, in whose custody Naismith and Dubauer are placed. Once in the depot, the prisoners are fed, and transferred to the General Vorkraft. Cordelia goes to Escobar in command of a decoy ship and successfully distracts the Barrayaran ships on picket duty at the wormhole exit so the transport ships following her can deliver a devastating new Betan weapon to the Escobaran defenders. She is captured, briefly tortured by the sadistic Admiral Vorrutyer, then unexpectedly rescued by Vorrutyer's henchman, Sergeant Bothari, who kills his master. Afterwards, Commodore Vorkosigan hides the pair in his cabin. The new weapons give the Escobarans an overwhelming advantage and the Barrayaran invasion is driven back with heavy losses, including Crown Prince Serg, his flagship, and all hands aboard. As Vorkosigan takes charge and organizes his fleet's retreat, Cordelia overhears one critical fact and deduces, step by step, a political secret that would plunge Barrayar into a generation of civil war if it ever got out. When Vorkosigan can no longer hide her in his cabin, she is placed in the ship's brig. The ship is attacked and loses power, including internal gravity; Cordelia braces herself in a corner of her cell, but when lights and gravity are restored she discovers that it is a ceiling corner, falls and breaks her arm. She endures a considerable wait while medics treat the more seriously injured, as the ship escapes from Escobar space and returns to the secret base. On her way back to Beta Colony after a prisoner exchange, she is assigned a cabin mate who turns out to be a Betan psychiatrist convinced that her injuries are evidence that she was tortured by Vorkosigan, and the fact that she denies being tortured means that her memories have been suppressed. Desperate to keep her terrible secret, Cordelia refuses to let herself sleep, developing insomnia, stuttering, and a nervous tic, which further leads the psychiatrist and doctors to conclude that she has also been brainwashed and is being sent back to Beta Colony as a spy. At home on Beta, the authorities are determined to "cure" her, forcing her to flee. She manages to reach Barrayar, where she marries Aral Vorkosigan. The dying Emperor Ezar Vorbarra appoints Aral as Regent-Elect for his grandson and heir, the four-year-old Prince Gregor. Aral, who is next in line of succession after the Prince, at first refuses, but Cordelia convinces him to take the job. Major characters *Konstantine Bothari *Cordelia Naismith *Aral Vorkosigan Supporting characters *Ens. Dubauer *Clement Koudelka *Serg Vorbarra *Ges Vorrutyer Minor characters *Korabik Gottyan *Lt. Rosemont *Lt. Stuben *Dr. Ullery *Ezar Vorbarra *Piotr Pierre Vorkosigan See also *''Cordelia's Honor'' *Vorkosigan Saga Category:Books